When Do You Know It's Love
by lilyflower1529
Summary: Inseparable, completely blissed best friends discover love. only it's very different for both of them. can their friendship take this toll? will it fall apart or grow into something more? AU, AH, slightly OOC, canon pairings. R
1. Best Friends

**I'm starting a new story with my favorite characters, only Bella is slightly OOC, because I like my Bella strong and funny… Thanks for the great response to When We Met. I hope you'll like this one as well…**

Bella looked over her shoulder as she heard the gymnasium door bang open. She rolled her eyes as she took in the newcomer's appearance. As usual…

'You're late,' she said distastefully with a slight hint of humor that was not missed by her best friend. He too rolled his eyes and taking hold of a basket ball dribbled it over to her.

'You know, I hate waking up early in the morning,' said Edward, taking aim at the basket and delivering a perfect shot.

'You hate waking up early or were you scared?' taunted Bella, with one hand on her hips and the other dribbling the ball. Edward growled.

'Scared? You wish,' he muttered, before launching himself at her and intercepting the ball. What followed was an exciting game that was but routine to the two best friends. Bella, as usually was two baskets up.

Edward grew frustrated. Dude… he was not going to lose to her… again. She was taunting him to block her. Without thinking he held out his leg. Predictably, in her all too familiar old self, Bella fell face first on the wooden floor. And he grabbed the ball, and scored a perfect three pointer.

'You Moron! I know you can't fucking play to save your life! Stop cheating at least!' she bellowed at the top of her voice. He turned.

'Don't call me a cheater,' he growled. He was a little surprised at her hostile behaviour… this was just supposed to be a fun game.

'That's what you are. Cheater. Cheater. Cheater,' she snarled, getting up brushing dust off her track pants.

'Bella, don't call me a cheater,' warned Edward getting more frustrated by the second. Bella's eyes glowed. She had him frustrated. He was so going to pay.

'Edward is a cheater. He is a cheater,' she taunted in a sing-song voice, walking up to him and jamming a finger in his chest.

'Don't fucking call me a cheater!' he shouted in her face.

'Cheater!' she hollered back.

Both glared at each other, panting from the basketball and shouting match. Then as if on cue, the doors opened and four very good looking people walked in.

They took in the scene before their eyes. The huge almost giant like man guffawed and was elbowed in the ribs by his pretty blonde girlfriend. Her twin sighed and his short spunky girlfriend giggled.

The noise broke the tension and without a word, both Edward and Bella turned and walked away in opposite directions.

'They're fighting… _again_,' sighed Rosalie, a small knowing smile playing on her lips.

'Hey Jazz, wanna bet how long this is going to last. Half an hour,' said Emmett, holding out a hand. 'Fifteen minutes,' replied Jasper grabbing his hand as a sign of sealing a betting deal.

Edward turned a deaf ear to the exchange. He was so not talking to Bella. _Cheater?_ What the fuck? Edward Cullen never cheated. That was completely involuntary. She would have to apologize first.

Bella took a long draught from her bottle. She grabbed Alice's hand and frog marched her outside, Rosalie following. Alice couldn't stop giggling. 'Don't even try,' muttered Bella. 'I'm not talking to him again.'

-----------

'Oh come on Bella, it's been ten minutes now. I know he's a total dick but he's your best friend. Get over this,' _or Jazz will lose his bet_, moaned Alice.

'No Bella. Don't let him off the hook so easily this time,' snapped Rosalie. She looked around to see the entire cafeteria on tenterhooks, their eyes darting between two tables – one occupied by the boys and the other by girls.

'Let her come to you. Be a man, Edward,' said Emmett.

'Let go of your ego, dude. Just go and apologize,' said Jasper lazily. 'She's your best friend.'

Actually, behind the charade of the icy exterior, both Edward and Bella were enjoying themselves at the expense of the suspense caused due to their erratic behaviour. They both looked up at the same time in hopes to see the other ready to give up and their eyes met.

Having seen the mischief in each other's eyes, they burst out laughing, bringing a breath of relief among all the other students. They got up from their seat and met halfway in a bone crunching hug. The hall burst into applause.

'Pay up!' yelled Jasper over the din.

**Yes, they are best friends who can't even stay angry at each other for ten minutes. But this is not your average story of friendship turning into love and then into lust… they'll have to clear a lot of emotional and physical hurdles before the perfect ending… all in due time. Hold on to your seats, their story is nothing short of a roller coaster ride! ;) Please review.**


	2. Tomboy and Ladies' Man

**In this chapter, I'm going to talk about their friendship, and an impending doom…**

'Are you okay, Mr. Denali?' asked Bella tentatively. She was ten minutes late for her biology class and standing at the end of the empty corridor, stunned. She had just witnessed their slightly – no scratch that – very eccentric principal do a victory jig.

As in: a proper victory dance. As proper as his immense belly would allow.

It took Bella all her will power to stop herself from falling on the floor in hysterics. The principal loved her and her bubbly nature and she was in no mood to spoil her impression however funny the situation may be.

Eleazer Denali blushed at being caught. But apparently his happiness over some particular news was more consuming than his embarrassment. He happily ruffled Bella's hair (much to her annoyance) and said in a sing song voice – 'My daughter's coming home from Alaska. She'll be graduating from Fork's High!'

'That's amazing, sir! But how did you manage to convince her?' asked Bella, excited for her favourite albeit eccentric teacher. Eleazer lost his wife a few years ago and his three daughters Tanya, Irina and Kate refused to move down to Forks with their father and step mother, Carmen. He had forever been trying to convince them to come home. And how did Bella know all this. Like I mentioned – she was his favourite!

'I have no idea, my child. It was their decision. They called and said they wanted to come home. What could I say to that?' he couldn't stop smiling.

Bella felt extremely happy for him and telling him so was going towards her class when he stopped her, his voice suddenly grave.

'Take care of my daughter, Bella. She's very fragile,' he said. Bella saluted. 'Don't you worry, sir. Bella is right here!'

She ran to her class. She was surprised to find no teacher in there. There was utter chaos. She saw Edward sitting the opposite way on his chair and chatting up with Lauren Mallory – who was all too engrossed in batting her eyelashes for his benefit.

Bella snorted. Rolling her eyes, she approached the table she shared with Edward.

'…seven sounds good. What do you say?' said Edward in his husky voice that he preserved for asking out the various specimen of female population in Fork's High. She preferred his normal velvety voice.

'Sure,' Lauren purred. She cleared her throat. 'Didn't you ask Jessica out this morning, Edward?' she smirked. Edward glared at her. 'Oh I see… two birds; one in hand, one in…' she turned around and started chatting with Mike Newton about last night's game with gusto.

Lauren huffed and walked away. Probably to touch up her make-up, thought Edward wryly. Whatever… I'll ask her out next week. She would have forgotten about this by then.

Bella came back to her seat after chatting with Mike. We both sat in silence for sometime, each daring for the other to speak first.

'Don't you get bored of those stupid girls you love hanging around with,' she asked after some time with a very sly quizzical look on her face. He rolled his eyes.

'_I _don't love hanging around with girls; _girls_ love hanging around with _me,_' he clarified. 'Whatever…' she began.

'Anyway, what would you know about girls? You're hardly a girl yourself,' he cut her off. She narrowed her eyes. 'What is that supposed to mean?' she said, her voice threatening.

'Well…' he said, taking his time riling her up. 'Normally girls don't go around bashing up guys for making a pass at their best friends… they don't defeat pigs like Tyler in arm wrestling and they definitely don't shout their lungs hoarse sitting in front of a game with their dads and best friends every night.'

'And that's why you love me!' she said happily, completely contrary to his intentions. She hated behaving girly but didn't like being called a tomboy either in spite of being a perfect example of that term. So when she smiled, his plan of irritating her by calling her a tomboy totally backfired.

She was completely different from all the other girls. They became friends when she for the first time defeated Edward in basketball. And then there was no looking back. They were literally attached at the hip. And he loved that he could be himself with her. And she, being unable to bear girly gossip was more than happy to have a guy best friend.

There was nothing that could possibly come between their friendship.

**I just want to mention here that Bella's character is actually based on me. I don't have patience with girls like Jessica and Lauren, or the real Bella (of the book) for that matter. I like girls to be strong and independent. So that's why I've fashioned Bella differently. As for Edward, he's the same except for the playboy part. My Edward knows that he is hot and uses that face… but he is not a man whore. He is still the most decent guy any girl could die for. That double date was truly a mistake on his part. He had forgotten about his earlier promise…lol!**


	3. Newbie

**Read on... **

A week later found the six sitting in the cafeteria, looking around in confusion. Everybody seemed restless as though there had been an Edward – Bella fight today, which was weird because today, they were perfectly friendly.

A second later they understood. In walked the most beautiful woman Bella had ever seen (with the exception of Rosalie). She has strawberry blonde hair and perfect features. New girl! Who could it be?

And then it struck Bella! 'T..Tanya,' she yelled across the cafeteria, before getting up and practically running up to her while the entire student body stared.

'Hi, I'm Bella,' she said on reaching her, holding out her hand. A relieved smile spread across Tanya's face. Her dad had mentioned her at home. She liked Bella immediately.

Bella led her to their table and introduced her to the rest. She immediately took to Alice and Rosalie for their common interest in fashion. You see, common interests in fashion can be quite binding.

It was then that Bella noticed that Edward was missing. When she asked the rest, they casually shrugged but she caught Emmett and Jasper smirking.

The five made Tanya feel at home within the hour and as the bell rang, Bella led the way to Biology, a class that they would be sharing.

Bella walked backwards, facing Tanya as she jabbered about everything that was Fork's High. She promised to take her around the campus after school. She found Tanya very sweet and likable.

Someone bumped into Tanya, making all her books fall. 'Excuse me?' she snapped at the careless person. 'What the fuck?' said Bella at the same time. They both noticed who it was and Bella giggled.

She wrapped her arm around his shoulders and said, 'This moron, Tanya, is Edward Cullen. My best friend.'

What she did not notice was that Edward had bumped into them on purpose and that right now, he was checking out the new girl. But Tanya was more than aware of this fact and thus looked at him disdainfully. She tried to control her heart from fluttering at the sight of a perfect specimen of the male human species.

'Hey, new girl,' winked Edward. 'Senior, I assume?'

'Yeah! She just moved in from Alaska. Cool, isn't it. Pun intended. She'll be graduating with us. Funny, considering only two months are left. In fact Mr. Denali mentioned -'

'Shut up,' Edward cut her off. 'Don't mention that idiot's name in front of me, teacher's pet,' he said moving back to Tanya. 'Alaska, huh? Do they make all girls hot over there?'

'Ed-ward, Mr. Denali is-' Bella began, giving him the stop-talking-now glare but was again cut off.

'No mentioning that creep, Bella,' he huffed. Tanya rolled her eyes and looked over his shoulder. 'Tell her about the nice stuff or rather people around here…'

'But Edward, you're not listening. Mr. Denali is-'

'Bella. Keep that old moron out of this conversation-'

But this time he was cut off not by Bella's voice but by a loud 'Hey Dad.'

They turned around to see their principal standing behind them. Edward stared. It seemed as though all air had been pulled out of his lungs.

'Hurry up kids. Tanya, I don't want you to be giving a bad impression on your first day itself by being late,' he mentioned sternly. 'Yes, dad,' said Tanya, with a slight giggle. They watched him walk away.

'Dad?' gasped Edward finally.

Bella and Tanya both burst out laughing and proceeded on to their class leaving him behind flabbergasted. He mentally kicked himself and followed them.

******

'So Tanya, this is where I leave you. I hope you enjoyed the tour?' said Bella, coming to a halt beside her truck.

'Oh yeah, Bella thanks. You're a life saver. I really don't know what I would have done without you. People here are a little weird, except you, Alice and Rosalie, I mean…' she trailed off, looking around uncomfortably at the people, still eyeing her.

'Oh don't mind them! They're just excited about a disruption in their mundane lives is all. Happened when I moved here a couple of years ago. But you stick around with us; come to me or Edward if you have any problem… you see – we're kind of popular out here,' she grinned and looked around at the milling parking lot.

Suddenly, a few people parted and three figures approached them.

Edward, Jasper and Emmett stood facing them, arms folded across their chests, all business.

'Look what we have here, people… a newbie,' said Edward at large. Everyone stopped to stare. Oh this was everyone's favourite part. They remembered when this had been done to Bella. A game of basket ball and some hooting later, she had become the most popular junior and Edward's best friend. They wondered what would happen now.

'Shut up Edward, she's the principal's daughter. We can't do this with her,' hissed Bella. He ignored her.

'You see, Tanya? This is the tradition here. Every newbie – like yourself – has to prove themselves to be worthy of being in Fork's high. We don't accept losers,' he stated.

'So what's it going to be this time? Jazz, you got any idea?' said Emmett.

'Make her sing, Edward,' said Jasper, with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Tanya looked at the scene with mild humor. She knew what she had to do and had utterly no problems with confidence. She may be shy and pretty but was by no means, weak.

Bella was cursing the guys furiously, trying to reason with them, but Edward shut her up with a look.

'We haven't got all day, Miss. Congeniality,' said Emmett in a bored voice.

A few anxious minutes passed but still nothing. Everyone was staring at the little group now.

Finally, the three smirked and with a snapping of his fingers in front of her face, Edward led the group back to his Volvo.

Before he moved even five steps ahead, he was stopped. Not by hand but by someone singing. He turned around to see Tanya leaning against Bella's truck and voicing the words to a song.

_Every night in my dreams  
I see you, I feel you  
That is how I know you go on_

Far across the distance  
And spaces between us  
You have come to show you go on

Near, far, wherever you are  
I believe that the heart does go on  
Once more you open the door  
And you're here in my heart  
And my heart will go on and on

She ended to a huge round of applause. She moved forward, snapped her fingers in front of Edward's face and moved away to her car.

Bella who had been staring at her open mouthed now looked at Edward's smug expression and raised her eyebrows. He shook his head and proceeded back to his car. She decided to ask him about it that night when he came over.

**Please don't think too badly of my Edward after reading this chapter. He's not a bad guy. And what he did obviously meant that he was attracted to Tanya. I'll be spending the next few chapters exploring the Edward-Tanya-Bella relationship. As I mentioned this is not a typical best friends falling in love story. I've based it on a movie but am going to make a few changes. Please bear with me… R&R. **


	4. you won't understand

**Yeah, I know you may be surprised when I say that Edward is a really good guy, but it is explained in this chapter…**

Charlie was working late tonight so it was just the two of them. Both were exceptionally quiet although for very different reasons.

Edward was still thinking about the new girl. He found her very fascinating. He had tried flirting with her but she had not batted a single eyelash towards him.

Bella was confused because she had never seen Edward in such a pensive mood. Of course, she knew that he was a very deep person with exceptional morals but it was very unlike him to be so thoughtful. Usually, he did everything at the spur of the moment.

'What's wrong Edward?' she asked tentatively shaking him out of his reverie.

'Huh? What? Oh, nothing,' he said, giving her a small smile.

'Bullshit. Out with it now!' she commanded, sitting up straight.

He drew a long breath. Ducking his head as though collecting his thoughts, he turned to her. 'What do you think about the new girl, Tanya. I totally messed up today with the whole principal shit, didn't I?'

She looked confused for a second as though trying to process where this was coming from… then she gasped.

'You have a crush on Tanya! Out of all the fucking idiotic girls who throw themselves at you, she's the only one who didn't kiss the ground you walk on! .God!' she said in a rush.

'Bella! Stop! I do not have a crush on Tanya. I'm the playboy, remember. Anyway, she's not my type,' said Edward condensing.

'She's not my type,' I imitated him, making a face. 'Give me a break! You'll never find a decent girl the way you are going… you'll die a prude.'

'No I won't… I'll marry you if I don't find someone,' he said with a sly grin.

'Yuk,' I spat. 'Never.'

'We'll see,' he said smugly.

'Be serious Edward. What's wrong with her? She's smart, funny and does not drool all over you…'

He stopped her by placing a finger on her lips.

'Why do you think I have a playboy image? Why do you think I've never had a proper girlfriend?' he sighed.

'Look Bella, we live just once; we die once; so why should we fall in love a multiple number of times? Love happens just once and so does marriage. I really believe in that. I've grown up seeing my parents completely devoted to each other. I want something like them. I know that when I meet that someone, there'll be something – a spark maybe… just something will happen…you won't understand.'

She rolled her eyes. 'You and your ideas…' she said, grinning.

******

Edward was walking down the corridor, deep in his thoughts from yesterday when he bumped into someone. Tanya.

Again she had dropped her books. They bent down to pick them up. Edward was faster and had them stacked within five seconds. They stood up.

'Yeah… sorry,' he said hesitantly, handing her books to her. 'For what?' she asked, a small smile playing on her lips.

'For not watching where I was walking… and for yesterday…you sing really well,' he said with trepidation.

'No problem,' she said with a satisfied smirk.

Utterly clueless what to do next, he started walking away.

'According to you, my dad's an idiot, creep and an old moron… I agree.'

He spun around in surprise. Before he could register, the words escaped his mouth, 'Wanna go out with me sometime?'

She chuckled lightly. 'We've just met, Edward. Don't you think we should get to know each other first?' she said and walked away.

**I know it's a really short chapter but I couldn't include the next part in this because it is exclusively the turning point in the story. That entire incident needs a chapter to itself. Anyway, please read and review.**


	5. What is Love?

**I am somehow getting the feeling that this story is not going the way I want it to; as though I can't get across what the characters are really feeling. If you too feel confused, or don't understand what's going on please tell me…**

A month passed and only one more was left to go.

Tanya had joined their group and got along really well with everyone. She and Edward still behaved formally with each other for the simple reason that they both wanted to out do each other. Edward hadn't asked her out after that. They both were waiting for the other to make the first move.

'Hey Tanya, check out this one,' said Alice, holding out a green dress. They were at the mall in Port Angeles, shopping for the prom dresses, even though it was a month away. Rosalie and Bella had gone to buy shoes (Bella who they had managed to procure from Edward for a day went very reluctantly).

'It's his favourite colour,' she said mockingly. 'Whose?' asked Tanya, holding the dress in front of her and checking he reflection in the mirror.

'Edward's,' giggled Alice. Tanya turned to her. 'What are you talking about?'

'Oh come on. It's so obvious. You two like each other,' she chided.

'Please Alice. What is really obvious is the feelings Bella and Edward have for each other…' said Tanya in a low voice.

'We thought so too, but it has been proved beyond doubt to the entire school that they are best friends, nothing more,' chastised Alice. 'And if he didn't like you, he wouldn't give up on daily dating and constantly flirt with you.'

'He may like me, Alice, but we don't know each other well enough to start dating. And I still think that deep down they have feelings for each other. Maybe they haven't realized it yet…'

'Maybe…'

********

The bell rang. Bella had to grudgingly put away the sling-shot she had been practicing on for quite some time now.

They settled down as the teacher entered. Bella and Edward were partners in English class too, and Tanya sat behind them.

'Come on class, just one last play to go. Romeo and Juliet,' said Mrs. Gonzalez, clapping her hands to bring about silence.

'Just as an introduction… we've read other Shakespearean plays but this is a tragedy based on love… can anyone here define what sort of love Shakespeare was talking about? And no innuendoes please,' she added at the sudden snickers that had filled the classroom at her question.

'Or just tell me what you think is love?' she asked.

The students were confused. How were they supposed to know what love was?

'Tanya, you want to try?' Mrs. Gonzalez looked at Tanya.

'No ma'am. I don't know…' replied Tanya at once.

'Isabella Swan! What do you think you are doing? Now, answer the question,' she screamed. Bella jerked her head up. She had been trying to aim a shot at Mike Newton, trying to hide from the teacher's view. She immediately dropped the slingshot and straightened up.

'Love… well… Shakespeare obviously thinks its crap so he killed his protagonists…' she stopped seeing the murderous look on the teacher's face.

The class laughed, and Edward the loudest which made him catch her attention.

'Okay, Mr. Cullen. Maybe, you would like to enlighten us with your views,' said Mrs. Gonzalez angrily.

Edward cocked his head sideways.

'Love… is friendship,' he said simply. 'If she can't be my best friend, then I obviously can't fall in love with her, because only my friend would know the real me…' he trailed off, casually leaning back in his seat and catching Tanya's eye, upside down. He hoped that she would get his meaning. She intrigued him. She wasn't his friend yet, like Bella and she was the first one to reject him.

A stunned silence followed his answer. It was the first time that Edward had dropped his cocky attitude and given a true insight about his feelings in public.

Tanya smiled. She understood what he had been trying to say. He wanted them to be friends. Fine, she would give him a chance.

'What a delightful thought,' said a very surprised Mrs. Gonzalez.

But no one was probably as surprised as Bella. She had never thought about it like this. She looked sideways at Edward's leaning position. What they shared… what they had… could it be love?

And for the first time she thought… what was love?

*******

'Hey Cullen, wanna go on date with me?' Tanya asked Edward, outside the English classroom. Hey were the last ones left.

The crooked grin spread on his face.

'Sure.'

**Hey please don't hate me… I know I'm delving way too deep in the whole Edward – Tanya thing but rest assured this is an Edward/Bella fic. These episodes are very much required to bring them to their senses.**

**Don't hate Tanya either. She isn't a bad person ready to pounce on Edward. They just happen to be attracted to one another. **

**I'm quite familiar with the attitude of teenage guys, belonging to this particular age group and being constantly around the jerks. I have a theory. Teenage guys are always attracted to pretty, demure damsels at the first site. If a girl is sporty and independent like Bella, then guys always take her for granted, considering her to be like them. They don't give her the credit of having feelings like normal girls. It's only after they mature up a bit do they realize the presence of the girl in her.**

**Edward's a normal guy. He practically declared that Bella and he were perfect for each other. And yet he did not realize what he wanted. He could be happy with Tanya (to know read ahead) but for the feeling of true love and the magic it holds, he needs Bella in his life… let's see how it works out…**


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